The Centralia City Council shot down a resolution that the city would sell property on and around Lake Centralia at Monday's council meeting. With a vote of 4-to-1 by the city council, the approval of the resolution was denied. City Manager Dan Ramey told the council he would not recommend selling the lake propertyat this time, as he had many concerns about it. "I know there needs to be something done on the lake, and as I stated in my report to the board, obviously to go forward with something as far as transferring leases again, I think that will start making development of the lake. Something has to be done, but I don't think the city council has enough information at this point to sell the lake at this point", said Ramey. Concerns he pointed out included how to sell the lake property, whether it would be sold to individual lease holders or in one lump sum. He states legally the city cannot subdivide the lake propertyand sell it according to state law. Other concerns included determining the true cost of the lake, as all costs and fees need to be examined more in detail, and the city's potential liability with environmental issues on the lake, properties, and roads near the lake. He says determining the correct property values and potential lease income have yet to be established. The Council received two checks from Dr. Ted VanAcker for the old VFW building, totaling $98,635.60. Dr. VanAcker met with Centralia Mayor Tom Ashby and City Manager Dan Ramey and agreed to deed the property back to the city. The city council took ownership of the property with several stipulations in place. Dr. VanAcker had to pay back forgivable loans in the amount in $70,000, minus the real estate taxes, and $40,000 for the original forgivable grant the city gave him to repair the building. The next city council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 11th due to the Columbus Day Holiday. - http://goo.gl/twtqL
